Everything Has Changed
by ihearttvsnark
Summary: Regina says goodbye to her son and watches him and Emma escape Storybrooke as she uses her magic to defeat Pan's curse. Or at least that's what was supposed to happen, but when Regina wakes up the next morning, she finds herself in an entirely unexpected situation (Companion piece to 'I Almost Do').


**Author's Note**: So I've never done this before where I'm basically writing fanfic for another fanfic that I wrote…but a lot of people wanted to see Regina's side of the story and I realized I did too so that's what this is.

(If you're here strictly for Outlaw Queen, you do not need to read 'I Almost Do' first. This story is a companion piece, but it's also meant to be a standalone fic. Now if you are a CS fan, you should definitely read 'I Almost Do' first - you can find it on my author's page).

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**Chapter One**

_Regina blinked away the tears, willing herself to hold it together a little longer. She could feel Pan's magic seeping through the town and knew she only had seconds left. When she lifted her head, she saw Henry turning in his seat to face them as Emma started the car. Regina didn't trust herself to watch him and not break apart so she focused on the scroll in her hands, carefully tearing it to shreds to end what she started once and for all._

_Her hands began to glow purple, the power of the scroll mixing with her magic, and she turned away from the town line and lifted her hands. Channeling all of her energy, Regina used her magic to fight off Pan's curse and she felt it working immediately, the green magic disappearing behind the purple haze emitting from her fingertips. It overtook them easily and she dropped her hands to her side, knowing the magic would take care of the rest._

_Even though she knew better, Regina couldn't resist turning around one last time. She could still see the yellow bug through the cloud of magic, but the distance between them was too great for her to see Henry's face any longer. She knew it wouldn't matter anyway because the car had crossed the town line and her son would never remember her again. A choked sob bubbled from her throat and she let her eyes close as pain coursed through every part of her._

(~)(~)(~)

Pain – more pain than she'd ever imagined possible – was the first thing Regina felt when she stirred from what must have been a heavy sleep. She didn't remember falling asleep or even lying down and she had no idea how she could sleep when her chest ached so much. Exhaustion from casting the spell to undo the curse must have engulfed her – she remembered that happening when she'd initially cast the curse almost thirty years earlier.

Thinking of the curse instantly brought her mind back to Henry and the overwhelming pain tightened its grip on her heart. Henry, her beloved son, the only good in her life, was gone forever. Regina wanted to scream and curse each and every world and realm that ever existed, but she knew the blame started and stopped with her. She'd cast the curse to punish everyone so their misery could be her happy ending, but now she was right back where she started from and she had nothing and no one. Only the pain lingered.

Henry's face flashed through her mind and she could still feel him in her arms when he'd given her one last hug before he'd gotten into Emma's car and vanished forever. Hot tears burned in the corners of her eyes and Regina blinked them away. _All magic comes with a price_. Rumple's voice rung loud and clear in her head and Regina knew he'd paid his price just as she had, his was his life and hers was an empty, bleak future without Henry.

Her chest tightened with fresh pain until Regina felt like she was suffocating. The urge to reach into her chest and yank out her heart was almost too much to bear. Or maybe that was exactly what needed to be done, she rationalized. Regina brought her hand to her chest, her fingertips tracing a circle over the ache radiating from her heart. She'd never stop missing Henry, but that didn't mean she needed to feel this ungodly pain every second of the day.

With fresh resolve flowing through her, Regina sat up and finally opened her eyes, ready to greet her new existence now that she had a plan. She started to push the blanket aside and then stopped short, her fingers curled around the familiar linen. Glancing down at herself, Regina recognized the silver silk pajamas that she'd donned hundreds of times over the past twenty-nine years. She also recognized the down comforter and the Egyptian sheets and everything else about the bedroom that most certainly did not belong in the Enchanted Forest.

A similar memory flashed through her eyes and Regina recalled the first time she'd woken up in Storybrooke. She'd felt as if she'd slept like the dead that morning too and then forgot all about her exhaustion when she'd realized her curse had worked. But how could it be happening again? Storybrooke should be gone and she should be back in the Enchanted Forest with the others.

Regina pushed the covers aside and slipped out of bed, walking slowly to the window. As she'd done many times over the years, she tugged the curtains open and stared out at the town beneath her window. It looked exactly the same. Her gaze drifted to the clock tower and the hands read 8:15. For a terrifying moment, Regina feared something had gone wrong with her spell and she'd somehow reset the curse instead of ending it. What would happen to Henry then?

The sound of her heartbeat echoed between her ears until she watched the minute hand finally tick down a notch. Regina sighed and rested her head against the glass. Time wasn't frozen so the curse hadn't started again, but something had kept Storybrooke in place. Her eyes drifted to the doorway and fresh hope sprang into her chest. If the curse had brought her back, maybe it had brought Henry back too. She strode to the door, her fingers closing over the knob when a loud snore came from her bed.

Startled, Regina stumbled into the door and her head whipped around toward the bed. She'd been so consumed with her thoughts and confusion that she'd managed to miss the large lump buried beneath the covers on the other side of the bed. "Henry?" she whispered, but Regina knew that would be too good to be true and even from the other side of the room, she could see the shape was bigger than Henry.

So who the hell was in her bed? Regina flicked her wrist and a large fireball filled her palm. She lifted her hand and then thought better of it, waving the fire away. At least she knew her magic still worked, something else that made this different from her original curse, but there was no point in setting fire to her bedroom. Not yet anyway…she wanted to see who exactly had the nerve to take up residence in her bed first.

Regina quietly walked back toward the bed, even though the care not to make any noise proved unnecessary when the occupant let out another loud snore. Someone didn't appear to be in any danger of waking up soon. As she got closer, she could see the person had burrowed underneath the blankets thoroughly. With an irritated sigh, Regina flicked her wrist and made the blanket fly off the bed and land in a heap on the carpet.

The man in her bed slept on his stomach and in very little clothing, only a pair of black boxers covered his body. Regina's eyes swept over the expanse of male skin, lingering on his back muscles for a moment before moving to his arms and then up to his sandy brown hair. The angle only allowed her to see a sliver of the side of his face, but he didn't look familiar, certainly not familiar enough to be snoring in her bed. She took another step toward the bed with every intention of waking him up and demanding an explanation and then he shifted his arm on the pillow above his head.

A gasp left her throat when her eyes locked on the lion tattoo covering his wrist. Regina's hand flew to her mouth and her mind instantly brought her back to the last time she'd laid eyes on that particular tattoo when she'd stood outside the tavern with Tinker Bell. The fairy assured her the man with the lion tattoo was her soulmate, her happy ending and all she'd had to do was walk through the door, introduce herself and claim her future and the happiness destined for her.

But she'd run away and done everything in her power to completely forget about the incident or she had until they'd crossed paths with Tinker Bell in Neverland. Either way, Regina never expected to see the man again and she most certainly had no explanation for why he'd be snoring in her bed in Storybrooke. Regina watched him for another moment and then with a flick of her wrist, returned the blanket to the bed before she turned and practically ran out of the bedroom.

Once she was safely in the hallway, Regina pointedly ignored the voice in her head (that sounded exactly like Tinker Bell's) calling her a coward for running away again. It might technically count as running, but the man was still in her house and sooner or later she'd have to talk to him and find out how and why, but for now, she needed to look for her son. Regina strode down the hall to Henry's room and slowly opened the door, not wanting to startle him.

The pain flared in her chest when she found nothing but an empty room. Of course it had been too much to hope that Henry would be waiting for her. Regina leaned against the doorway and let her eyes trail over Henry's belongings. Everything seemed to be there from his comic books to his action figures and the old records he liked to play. Whatever this curse had done, Henry was still part of her life or at least he was supposed to be. She had to assume the Enchanted Forest residents had remained in town, but what about Emma and Henry?

She needed to find out whether they had returned as well and that meant getting dressed and going to knock on the two idiots' door. Regina turned to head back to her room and immediately jumped back when she got her third shock of the morning. A young boy stood in front of her, clad in superhero pajamas, with dark curly hair and the biggest eyes she'd ever seen. A dimpled grin lit up his face when he saw her and Regina's heart turned over in her chest.

"Hi Egeena!" he called excitedly. "Is Henry here?" He moved closer and tried to peer around Regina into the dark bedroom.

Too many thoughts crashed through her head at once. She had to assume the little boy was connected to the man in her bed and he obviously knew his way around her house. But he knew Henry and that meant Henry was part of this new world. Regina wanted to bask in the relief that she'd see her son again, but there were far too many questions racing through her mind. She forced a deep breath out of her lungs and knelt down so she was eye level with the new arrival.

"I'm sorry, but Henry's not here right now, sweetheart." The dimpled smile faded and she wanted to pull the boy into her arms and soothe his disappointment (and her own), but Regina held back. She needed to find out who he was and maybe find answers about the man in her bed…_her soulmate with the lion tattoo. _

The boy looked at her expectantly and Regina fought the urge to ask him what he wanted because she had a feeling she should know that already. Something had gone wrong with her spell or Pan's curse or both and she needed to figure out how this new world worked, but she didn't want to upset him in the process. Regina smiled. "Why don't we go back to your room?" she suggested.

His smile returned and he held out his hand to her. Regina's hand shook a little as she took it, her mind flashing back to when Henry had been this small (three or four, she guessed). She let the boy lead her down the hall to one of the spare rooms and she saw it had been transformed into a bedroom fitting for a little boy. The walls and furniture were done in earth tones that instantly reminded Regina of the Enchanted Forest. A large 'R' hung over the bed.

The boy let go of her hand and toddled across the room, picking up a book from the small table beneath the window. "Egeena, can we read more of the story?" he asked. His eyes seemed bigger than ever when he turned to her with a hopeful look. Regina nodded and took the book from his outstretched hand before lifting him into her arms and taking a seat on the bed.

He wiggled excitedly in her lap, taking the book again and flipping to a page near the middle. "Here's where Daddy left off." The proud smile he gave her brought back the tightness in her chest, but Regina managed to keep the smile on her face. "Okay, we'll start here, but first, I have a question." She nodded toward the 'R' hanging above the bed and hoped for the best. "What does that letter stand for?" she asked.

The little boy looked at her and for a moment, Regina worried he would question why she wanted to know, but then he grinned. "R is for Roland!" he stated proudly. Regina held him a little tighter. "Good job, Roland." His grin widened and she couldn't help returning it before she turned her attention to the words on the page. Somehow, she didn't think it would be quite as easy to learn his father's identity.

(~)(~)(~)

After reading the story, Regina had left Roland seated at his table with crayons and paper, happily drawing pictures of his family. She slipped back into her room only to discover that her mystery man (_soulmate_) remained fast asleep. Regina stepped into the large adjoining bathroom and went through her morning routine, reemerging dressed in one of her favorite black suits over a red blouse. Her makeup and hair were done and she added her jewelry, watching the sleeping man in the mirror as she fastened her earrings in place. She wondered if he always slept this heavily or if the remnants of the curse affected people differently.

_Do not think about that_. She made a face at her reflection and ordered herself to pull it together. Rising from her vanity, Regina crossed the room and exited the bedroom again, quietly closing the door behind her. She didn't have time to worry about the man's sleeping habits. She still needed to find out what the curse had done and who else it had brought back. Would they have their memories too? Regina needed to go into town and start talking to people, but first, she needed to make Roland breakfast.

As she walked down the stairs, she paused at the landing when she caught a flash of yellow through the window. Regina spotted Emma's car parked in front of her house and quickened her pace. Maybe the savior would prove herself useful for once and could tell her about Henry. She opened the door and found Emma standing on the porch, staring off into space. Regina scowled, but the other woman didn't seem to realize she wasn't alone or that the door had opened. _So much for actually being useful. _

"Are you planning on standing out here all day?"

Emma jumped and stumbled back, barely managing to catch herself from falling backward off the porch. Regina might have been amused by her gracelessness if the situation were less dire. She folded her arms across her chest and tapped her fingernails against her elbows while she waited for the savior to speak.

"Sorry, I was distracted," Emma said finally, not sounding the least bit sorry. "We need to talk." Once again, she proved she'd failed to learn the definition of manners when she didn't bother waiting for an invitation and just slipped past Regina and moved into the house like she owned the place.

"Do come in, Miss Swan," Regina muttered. Since Emma didn't seem fazed that they were back in Storybrooke and she obviously had memories of some sort, Regina decided to keep her strange morning quiet for the moment and find out what the other woman wanted.

She closed the door and then moved around Emma, motioning with her hand that she should follow her as she walked toward the kitchen, her heels clicking against the floor. Regina still wanted to get breakfast ready to try and keep things as normal as possible for Roland. Or what she could only _assume_ was normal since she knew nothing of this life. "What brings you here this morning?" she asked Emma.

Silence greeted her instead of an answer and Regina rolled her eyes. The Charming's might not have raised Emma, but their flair for the dramatics had certainly been passed down to her. Regina kept walking toward the kitchen, not about to give the savior the satisfaction of appearing interested in her latest drama. She had her own issues to deal with and whatever nonsense –

"Regina, what do you remember about yesterday?"

_That_ made Regina stop in her tracks and she felt the tension sliding down her back. Maybe the savior's visit wouldn't be a waste after all. Regina turned to face her and tried to read Emma's expression, but the woman had a good poker face when she wanted to. Regina still wasn't ready to concede quite yet. "It was a day like any other in Storybrooke. Was it not?"

A smug smile crossed Emma's face and then it was replaced by frustration and Regina noticed she wasn't the only one carrying tension in her shoulders. "Except for the part where Rumplestiltskin sacrificed himself to kill Peter Pan and you used your magic to stop his curse and send everyone home while I left town with Henry," Emma told her bluntly.

Regina sighed, not knowing whether she should be relieved or worried that Emma remembered as much as she did. "Except for that," she muttered. Needing to keep busy, Regina walked over to the cabinet and began pulling out ingredients to bake muffins. She didn't know what kind of food Roland liked, but Henry had always loved muffins. "Tell me exactly what you remember after you drove out of town."

"Nothing," Emma replied. She took a seat at the counter and picked up an apple, rolling it between her fingers while Regina moved around the kitchen, gathering bowls for the ingredients and a pan to pour the mix into once the muffins were complete. She set everything on the counter and stood across from Emma while she waited for her to explain.

"I remember saying goodbye and the pain of losing everyone and then the next thing I know, I'm waking up this morning in bed with…" She hesitated, and Regina noticed the color creeping into her cheeks. Her mind instantly drifted to the man in her bed and she hoped he was still sleeping because she didn't particularly want to meet him in front of Emma.

"…Hook."

"And?" Regina motioned impatiently with her hand before picking up an egg and breaking it over one of the bowls. She didn't see why the savior felt the need to act so scandalized over admitting she shared her bed with a pirate. She wanted her to just get to the point. "How did you know something was wrong and it wasn't just a normal day?"

"Seriously?" Emma asked and her incredulous tone made Regina look up from the eggs. "Do you think I wake up in bed with Hook often?"

Regina just stared at her. She didn't exactly spend her spare time contemplating the savior's sex life, but if she had to guess, she would have assumed the pirate had a starring role. Apparently her assumption had been off given the way Emma's face was now redder than the jacket she wore.

"Hook and I are not – we – it's not like that," she stammered. A far off look crossed her face and then she seemed to think better of it and her gaze shifted to the bowl instead of meeting Regina's again. "It's never happened before."

Regina rolled her eyes and finished with the eggs, moving on to measure the butter she needed. At least now she understood Emma's reaction better. Her mind drifted to the man upstairs once more and she forced herself to focus on the matter at hand. "I take it that he was acting like it was a normal occurrence." If Hook knew things were different, she figured he'd be standing in her kitchen too.

Emma nodded. "He knew something was wrong with me and he assumed I was mad about last night." She relayed a story Hook had shared about the night before being David's bachelor party and that things had gotten out of hand, causing the sheriff to intervene, even though Emma had no memory of that actually happening. David had apparently spent the night on their couch and Regina barely had time to roll her eyes before Emma mentioned Henry and the familiar ache returned to her chest.

"Henry was excited about his school field trip and didn't seem to notice anything was out of the ordinary. How is this possible? He was with me when we crossed the town life. Why doesn't he have his memories? Why do you?"

"That's the million dollar question," Regina replied. She grabbed a whisk and started to mix the batter in the bowl, needing to keep her hands busy more than ever. Emma remembered, but Henry didn't, which meant that he had no idea she was his mother. Some of the memories she'd given them must have stuck. So why were they back here? Why wasn't she and the others in the Enchanted Forest?

Regina couldn't make sense of any of the pieces, including the two currently upstairs. Were they brought over with the first curse? She certainly would have remembered seeing the lion tattoo again, but there were plenty of Storybrooke residents she'd never crossed paths with because they didn't matter to her – collateral damage. "I take it that David has no idea that he's your father." She glanced up and Emma shook her head. "But he's engaged to your mother. None of this makes any sense."

The first curse had given everyone miserable lives and she assumed Pan's plan had been to do something similar. But her magic should have stopped that from happening and it must have on some level for David and Mary Margaret to still be together. Emma and Hook had stayed together and Henry was with them and the man fairy dust declared as her soulmate slept in her bed as they spoke.

"Hook – _Killian_ – doesn't seem to have any past memories either." Emma's voice interrupted her thoughts and Regina glanced up at her again while she went back to stirring the ingredients. "I asked him how long we've lived in Storybrooke and he said it felt like forever, but he couldn't recall an exact amount of time."

That sounded more like her original curse except Regina already knew time wasn't frozen here. She didn't have a chance to tell Emma that because the other woman was suddenly frowning at her. "Wait, how did you know something was off? Was it just because you woke up here in Storybrooke?"

"Egeena?"

Roland's entrance spared Regina from having to answer Emma's questions and judging by the look on the other woman's face, she could put two and two together in this case. Roland glanced at Emma with a shy look and then his eyes found Regina and his large dimpled smile returned. "Daddy's still sleeping," he told her.

Regina stepped away from the counter and crossed the room to Roland, smiling as she bent down to lift him up. She balanced him on her hip and he wrapped his arms loosely around her neck. Her chest ached in a completely different way as she moved back toward the counter. "Well I guess we're just going to have breakfast without him then. Would you like some orange juice, Roland?"

He nodded and when Emma continued to just sit there playing with an apple, Regina sent her a pointed look to make herself useful. Emma took the hint and got up to walk to the refrigerator. She found the juice and after banging around the cabinets, she opened one filled with children's cups that definitely hadn't been there yesterday. She poured the juice and Regina carried Roland over to the stool beside Emma's and gently set him down.

"Thank you," Roland said politely and rewarded Emma with one of his dimpled smiles. Regina smiled as well, impressed with the little boy's manners. His father had been doing something right (_her soulmate_ – she was never going to get used to that and it was probably the least of her worries at the moment). "Is Henry here?" Roland asked Emma.

She returned his smile, even as she shook her head. "Sorry, but he's at school right now. I'm sure he'll come see you soon." That seemed to satisfy Roland and Regina turned her attention back to the muffin mix, adding the final ingredients and stirring everything together while Roland sipped his juice.

His eyes followed Regina's hand and then he looked up at her once again. "Daddy said he doesn't feel well and Uncle Kian is the devil." He spoke in an exaggerated whisper like he was telling a secret and Regina was torn between amusement and terror at the idea that the man would wake up again soon and she'd have to talk to him.

She decided to focus on his comment instead, which seemed to indicate her mystery man had taken part in the (fake) bachelor party activities the previous night. So he must be on good terms with Charming and Hook. "Did he now?" Regina asked. Roland nodded proudly and Regina couldn't resist reaching out with her free hand to ruffle his hair.

"I'm sure he just needs some sleep and he's right about Uncle Killian being a bad influence." She shot a pointed glare in Emma's direction and the savior had the nerve to send one right back. And the woman wondered why Regina assumed she slept with Hook on a regular basis. If they'd been alone, she would have commented on Emma's kneejerk need to defend the pirate.

But none of that was important at the moment. She could practically see the questions running through Emma's head and Regina figured they might as well get the interrogation over with. She turned to Roland with a smile. "Sweetheart, why don't you go and watch some cartoons in the living room?" she suggested. "I'll come get you when breakfast is ready." Roland's smile widened and he nodded enthusiastically as he slipped off his stool and toddled out of the room.

"I guess that answers my earlier question," Emma commented once Roland was safely out of earshot. She raised an eyebrow at Regina. "Who is his father?" she asked, once again proving that she'd inherited her father's lack of tact.

Regina had expected that question, but the idea of revealing this part of her life to Emma (or anyone else) didn't appeal to her. She kept her eyes on the mixing bowl and made sure all of the lumps were removed from the mixture. Emma continued to watch her expectantly and Regina debated leaving out the details, but considering the uncertainty of this situation, she knew the truth mattered. "Regina, who is his father?" Emma asked again.

"I don't know his name," Regina hissed. She set the bowl down and glared at Emma once more. In that moment, she reminded Regina so much of Snow White with her incessant need to know everyone else's business. "You're not the only one who woke up in an unfamiliar situation this morning. I don't know his name because he's been sleeping, but it's not the first time I've seen him."

Regina still didn't want to share the next part, but she had no choice. She would just have to keep it as simple as possible and make sure Emma understood the finer details were not going to be disclosed. "A long time ago, Tinker Bell took me to meet a man that she told me was my soulmate. He had a lion tattoo on his arm…the same tattoo the man upstairs has."

Emma just stared at her, looking completely shocked. Regina supposed she couldn't blame her for that – _she_ still hadn't processed everything that happened since she woke up beside the man, whose name she didn't even know. Emma looked like she had questions on the tip of her tongue and Regina held her gaze, warning flashing in her eyes. For once, Emma seemed to take a hint. "And Roland?" she asked.

Regina shrugged. "He was more forthcoming with answers, but I didn't think it was wise to ask him what his father's name was." It had crossed her mind while they read the story, but she knew children that age tended to repeat everything. She didn't want the man in her bed to know she'd tried to get answers about him from his toddler.

"He seems completely at home here and now we know that he's familiar with Henry and your pirate boyfriend." Emma made a face at the barb and Regina allowed herself a satisfied smirk before her expression sobered once more. They were still at square one. "We need to figure out if anyone else still has memories."

"How?" Emma asked and Regina scowled, wondering how this woman had ever managed to break the first curse. "I take it you think I need to go out there and talk to more people?" she guessed. Regina could see she didn't appear to be fond of the idea, but after a moment, a resigned look crossed her face. "I guess I'll head into town and see who I run into. Are you going to stay here?"

"For now," Regina replied. Even though she hated to admit it, Regina knew people would be more receptive to Emma asking them questions than they would be to her. Not to mention she needed to be here when the mystery man woke up and find a way to deal with that situation. She had to assume he'd have set memories of this world like Henry, Charming and Hook did. Her eyes drifted to the doorway and she tried to listen for Roland in the other room.

"I'll call you if I find anything. You'll do the same?" Emma asked. Regina nodded and followed Emma down the hall to the front door. She closed it behind her and then moved to the living room to check on Roland. The TV was on and he sat on the couch, swinging his legs in front of him. Regina decided to leave him be for the moment and went back to the kitchen to finish the muffins. Maybe by the time breakfast was ready, Roland's father would be awake.

As she placed the cups in the pan and carefully poured the batter into each one, Regina debated whether she should dread facing the man or if this would be the moment she'd unknowingly been waiting for ever since that night Tinker Bell had led her to the tavern.


End file.
